Jewish Men in UK Are Twice as Likely to Die From Coronavirus Than Overall Population, Study Shows

[additional-authors]

Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

June 19, 2020

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 08: A man walks past a pair of telephone boxes in Stamford Hill on the evening of the Jewish holiday of Passover on April 8, 2020 in London, England. The Jewish community is preparing to celebrate Passover amid COVID-19 home isolation and social distancing measures. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

(JTA) — In a statistical analysis of deaths from the coronavirus in England, Jewish males were shown to have double the risk of dying from COVID-19 than the general population.

The report published Friday by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics looks at the breakdown of deaths according to religion in England and Wales. Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs also were more at risk than Christians or those with no stated religion, according to the report.

A “substantial part of the difference in mortality” between religious groups, the report says, owes to “the different circumstances in which members of these groups are known to live; for example living in areas with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation and differences in ethnic makeup.”

The report means that “Jewish males are at twice the risk of Christian males, and Jewish women are also at higher risk,” The Jewish Chronicle of London quoted Nick Stripe, head of a department at the kingdom’s Office for National Statistics, as saying.

Jewish males had a mortality rate of 187.9 deaths per 100,000 compared to 92.6 deaths overall per 100,000 in the general population, which is primarily Christian. For Jewish females, the rate was 94.3 deaths per 100,000 compared with 54.6 overall.

The report looked at deaths from the virus between March 2 and May 15. At the time there had been 453 deaths of people identifying as Jewish in the census.